This invention relates generally to a machine for forming containers formed from a blank of sheet material, and more specifically to methods and a machine having a control system that is used to form a corrugated container from a blank of sheet material by wrapping the blank around a mandrel.
Containers fabricated from paperboard and/or corrugated paperboard material are often used to store and transport goods. These containers can include four-sided containers, six-sided containers, eight-sided containers, bulk bins and/or various size corrugated barrels. Such containers are usually formed from blanks of sheet material that are folded along a plurality of preformed fold lines to form an erected corrugated container.
At least some known containers are formed using a machine. For example, a blank may be positioned near a mandrel on a machine, and the machine may be configured to wrap the blank around the mandrel to form at least a portion of the container. An example of such a machine is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,242,949 (“the '949 patent”). The '949 patent describes a machine that is capable of producing a cardboard case or similar container by wrapping a blank about a mandrel. This mandrel has an essentially square or rectangular cross section, so that the cases formed by the machine have four lateral faces defining a volume whose cross section, parallel to the bottom of the cases, is also square or rectangular. In other words, this machine forms a four-sided, square, or rectangular box. The machine uses jacks and mechanical linkages to raise, lower and rotate folding arms that wrap the blank around the mandrel. These arms are rigidly connected together so that they move in tandem, and cannot be moved or controlled independently.
Another box forming machine is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,147,271 (“the '271 patent”). The '271 patent describes a machine having an eight-sided mandrel that is capable of producing a cardboard case or similar container by wrapping a blank about the mandrel. Thus, this machine is able to form containers having eight side faces defining a volume whose cross section, parallel to the bottom of the container is also eight-sided. As in the case of the '949 patent, the '271 patent also describes a machine that uses jacks and mechanical linkages to raise, lower and rotate folding arms that wrap the blank around the mandrel. These arms are rigidly connected together so that they move in tandem, and cannot be moved or controlled independently.
Another box forming machine is described in U.S. Pub. No. 2008/0078819 (“the '819 Application”). The '819 Application describes a machine for forming a barrel from a blank of sheet material. The machine includes a mandrel having an external shape complimentary to an internal shape of at least a portion of the barrel. The barrel that is formed is an eight-sided barrel. Thus, the mandrel is also eight-sided. Unlike in the '949 patent and the '271 patent, the '819 Application describes a servomechanism operatively connected to a folding arm for driving and controlling movement of the arm. However, the machine described in the '819 Application is limited because each folding arm is not individually controlled by separate servomechanisms. Rather, at least some of the arms of the '819 Application are described as rigidly connected together so that they move in tandem, and cannot be moved or controlled independently.
None of the known box forming machines include a mandrel, a plurality of folding arms, and a plurality of blank feeding arms that are each individually controlled by a servomechanism, and a control system for controlling each of the servomechanisms. It would be beneficial to have a box forming machine that includes individually controlled arms and a control system that allows an operator to program different box forming recipes, or protocols, into the control system. Each recipe would include computer-readable instructions that instruct the different servomechanisms of the box forming arms to form various size boxes, various types of boxes, and/or control the output of the formed boxes from the machine. The servomechanisms of the arms would be controlled by the control system such that the arms could follow any movement path desired by the operator. Thus, the machine could easily form any type or size of box with minimal mechanical changes to the machine. Such a box forming machine would also be beneficial because it would allow an operator to improve the output of boxes formed by the machine because each forming arm would be individually controlled.